IPE: Slovakian parliament shakes up investment rules for pension funds

27 September 2011

Under the terms of the bill, second-pillar pension schemes will become mandatory for new employees, some schemes will lose their guarantees, and others will be forced to allocate a minimum 20 per cent to risky assets.

The pension fund range will be extended by an index tracker fund, but, at the same time, all funds except the conservative bonds-only funds will lose their guarantees, which pension fund companies had to grant. Clients will now be able to split their assets between one guaranteed fund and one other fund – until now, they have been able to choose one fund only. A change in fees means pension fund companies will no longer be able to levy performance fees in the guarantee funds.

Under revised investment regulations, funds will have the ability to use hold-to-maturity valuation and invest in precious metals, while the growth funds will be required to hold a minimum of 20 per cent in equities. Industry experts have criticised the latter change as a bad move in a difficult market environment.

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